Anthony Bourdain dead at 61

Anthony was good for the planet. By bringing us along to places many of us would dare go, he introduced us to other cultures and invited us to understand and appreciate others...“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
- Mark Twain

It is amazing how true Mark Twain’s words resonate today as the days they were first penned, thanks for that! Yes, Anthony really brought that realization to all of us through his travels and great gift of tying things together to give us a sense of our human commonality. This guy is going to be sorely missed, particularly in that respect in a country and world that needs more of it.

A real bummer.  Seemed to be a real guy, demons and all, that loved others but not himself enough.  Mental illness in all it's forms, and suicide are so misunderstood.  Huge loss IMO.

Bill

A victim of suicide. Unlike most in media he showed ordinary people like all of us just trying to get through life and enjoying the things we all have in common. 

What disturbed me most was that with all the people he was surrounded by, no one was deep enough in his life to see the pain. Lets get out of the shallow end of the pool. Go deep. With empathy and compassion. 

amg56
 You carry a heavy load every day and every night. Your daughter is I am sure the last thing you think about when you go to bed and the first thing you think about when you wake up. 

@mickeyb surprised you say that about Anthony, or anyone else for that matter.  Isn't that part of the many reasons why music is such a powerful, visceral art form - precisely because it has the power to heal and comfort? At least is does for me.  

Which reminds me....after my beloved father's own suicide over 20 years ago, I was sitting in my office at Festival Productions, and I remember putting on the song Dear Lord by John Coltrane, which has always been one of my favorite tracks.  I cried uncontrollably.  Every time I hear it, it brings me back to that time and I am grateful, because it reminds me at that very moment why I'm so lucky to be alive and well.  

Bourdain had showed signs of his pain.  Watch the Berlin episode that just recently aired.  His mental state is pretty apparent.  Suicide is a horrible thing because of what it leaves behind.

I wish that his family and all families of this horrible disease known as deep depression find suitable ways to cope.  ~LG